Monday, January 31, 2011

Elements Of A Website: Balance

By Sue Mitchell


There are different elements of design which need to be considered when creating a website. The balance of a website is an essential part of web design. It is basically the understanding that larger and denser elements in the page appear heavier, while the lighter elements are the ones that are smaller. There are three ways in which you can balance design, symmetrically, asymmetrically, and discordant or off-balance. The balance is applied to the website in order to perfect it's look. There are different challenges to this, one of which is the fold. This is when the design is perfectly designed in the initial view, and then once the searcher reaches the site it becomes out of balance.

In order to include balance in your web design you need to have it in the overall layout. There is also the floating style where you can position the different elements balancing them across the page. Symmetrical balance is the most common, this is when everything is centered in the website.

The first type of balance is the symmetrical. This is basically where the elements are placed in an even fashion throughout the overall website. An example is if you have a light element on one side, you will place the same weight element on the other side. As mentioned above, centering is the simplest way to create a symmetrical design. This however, may cause the website to become boring or flat, so put this into consideration when creating a symmetrically balanced site. In order to achieve this you can mix and match elements, instead of two light images on both sides, have a light image on one side, and a light text on the other. Giving it a bit of an interesting look.

The more challenging alternative is the asymmetrical balance design. This sort of design does not have elements matched and cantered in the overall design. This type of design has the same effect of a teeter-totter, you don't place elements evenly, they are placed throughout the page, and depending on how close to the center they are they create the proper balance. One heavy element towards the center can be balanced out by a light element towards to far end of a page. It's a more creative and interesting form of design, however, more difficult to achieve.

The most easily said than done of the three types of designs is out of balance or discordant design. This suggests the action and movement to the page; however, this may make visitors uncomfortable. Therefore, it works best if applied when the text and site content is intended to do just that. It is essentially as it sounds, out of balance.




About the Author:



No comments: